doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Winchester Proof Steel

There seems to be comment about a known ring bulge, and at the same time we're thinking that there were inward dents at the same location on the barrel? I'd speculate that what ever caused the ring bulge, might not be ruled out as the cause of the crack?

Those dents don't seem to reflect on the outside of the barrel. Due to the appearance of the patina, maybe there was some striking and refinishing in the distant past? Though it appears pushed outward, could the 'dents' be formed by uneven tapping down of a bulge? Could the crack have formed or showed after a fair amount of use, time and wear passed?

The �37� is definitely the year of manufacture of this barrel, with Win Proof Steel being introduced in 1932, the year John Olin took over. I always thought replacing the nickel steel barrels was a cost cutting measure. The date stamping on barrels gradually stopped post WW2. Regards, Sandlapper

Thank you sandlapper.

SGJ: I don't understand.
"Winchester Proof Steel" was the name given by Winchester when introduced in 1931 for the Model 21 and in 1932 for the Model 12.
Ned Schwing states it was 4140.
Winchester catalogs in the 70s state Proof Steel was �cold forged Chrome Molybdenum�.
Certainly within a pour there can be slight variation in composition, but 4140...is 4140.
Have you read that Winchester at some point changed to a different steel?

Craig: there is a ring bulge. The defects I'm calling dents look like 2 annular furrows and are OUTWARD from the bore into the wall, but don't show on the external surface of the barrel; which does show what looks like brass hammer marks as if someone tried to pound down the bulge. I can't be sure that the pin of the wall thickness gauge is in the bottom of the furrow in order to accurately measure the wall thickness, but it is obviously less that the barrel just proximal and distal to the defects. The crack is perpendicular to the furrows however.
I'm only guessing that maybe what started all this was an inward dent that someone tried to raise, which caused the inside annular "dents" and bulge. Work hardening is a good thought.

The barrel segment is off to METL this am.

Possibly a gunsmith could comment: Is there some device (pilot, mandrel, dent raiser) that could be expanded with such force as to cause the 2 annular furrows? Thank you.

I ask because of this: A 16g victim of chamber lengthening with four 1/4"-3/8" circumferential bulges, with a surface crack.



corresponding to four end of the forcing cone dents; which I presume to be from the reamer pilot?

In my opinion those marks look about the same size and shape as the anvil on a hydraulic dent lifter. Those things have a lot of force and take a delicate touch to not go from a dent to a bulge.

Thank you. To clarify, I am asking about these annular furrows in the Model 12 barrel which are associated with a ring bulge

Wasn't it more of a way out of the Stainless Steel debacle?

Seventeen inches down the bore, would there be a tooling pilot positioned at that point? The barrel thickness seems generous in that area, maybe tooling damage might appear as material loss before outward displacement? Grease has been mentioned, how about some mud or snow contributing to a ring bulge?

360 degree damage from a hydraulic barrel dent remover???

C'mon... even a gunsmith who supports anti-gun Liberal Left Democrats isn't that stupid... I think.

Notice the multiple small outward bulges, they could easily be from a hydraulic dent lifter, used in several different positions around the outer diameter of the barrel.

Even someone as biased as yourself should be able to see that Billie kEITH, unless you are just too stupid.